Organic Sourdough Baker in Gardnerville, NV

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Some stories begin with a business plan.

Mine began with a lifelong love of food, an instinct for creating recipes, and eventually, a sourdough starter that changed everything.

I’m Chrissi, owner, baker and recipe developer behind Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery, a licensed cottage micro bakery in Gardnerville, Nevada, specializing in handcrafted organic sourdough bread and artisan baked goods.

Food has been part of my world for more than 30 years, but baking has always been about more than following a recipe. I create largely by instinct. I can taste combinations in my mind before they ever make it into a mixing bowl, and some of our most-loved sourdough flavors began exactly that way.

A little inspiration. A little experimenting.

And occasionally, a kitchen covered in flour.

My journey into sourdough grew naturally from my love of cooking, baking and creating food from simple, quality ingredients.

What captivated me about traditional sourdough was the process.

Flour. Water. Salt. Starter. Time.

There is something remarkable about taking those simple ingredients and, through natural fermentation, transforming them into a beautifully crusted loaf of bread.

Sourdough cannot be bullied into hurrying.

It taught me to slow down, trust the process and pay attention to the dough rather than the clock.

That philosophy became part of the foundation of Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery.

Today, I specialize in naturally leavened organic sourdough bread, handcrafted in small batches here in Gardnerville and Carson Valley, Nevada.

Every loaf begins with our living sourdough starter and organic flour. The dough is mixed, fermented, shaped and baked using the slow process that gives traditional sourdough its characteristic crust, crumb and flavor.

Our signature Gardnerville Sourdough celebrates the simplicity of traditional bread, while my love of recipe development comes alive in our rotating specialty loaves.

Some are savory. Some are sweet. Some are seasonal.

And some begin with me announcing, “I have an idea.”

Those tend to make life around the bakery interesting.

My relationship with food reaches beyond the bakery.

I’m also a Holistic Health Practitioner and Master Herbalist, with a longtime interest in herbs, traditional uses of plants and the connection between what we grow and what we bring into our kitchens.

That background naturally finds its way into my baking and recipe development.

Rosemary, basil, sage and other herbs aren't simply ingredients pulled from a spice cabinet. They're flavors I know, grow, blend and love working with.

It's one reason the farmhouse part of Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery means so much to me.

It reflects the way I approach food: simple ingredients, traditional methods, creativity and a deep appreciation for things made by hand.

Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery began small, and intentionally remains small-batch.

Being a cottage micro bakery allows me to stay connected to the bread I make and the people I'm making it for.

From scheduled front-door bakery pickups in Gardnerville to farmers markets and community events throughout Carson Valley, I've had the privilege of watching customers become regulars and regulars become familiar faces.

A loaf of bread may seem like a simple thing.

But bread shows up at family dinners, holidays, celebrations, quiet breakfasts, glasses of wine with friends and those nights when nobody wants to cook and a good loaf of sourdough suddenly becomes dinner.

I love knowing something made in my kitchen becomes part of those moments.

My goal has never been to make the most bread.

It's to make really good bread.

Bread I'm proud to put my name on.

Every recipe I develop and every loaf that leaves Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery carries a little piece of the journey that brought me here: more than three decades around food, an endlessly curious recipe developer, an herbalist's appreciation for ingredients, a baker's respect for fermentation and a love for the community I call home.

What started with flour, water, salt and a little wild yeast has grown into something I never could have planned.

And I'm still creating.

Still experimenting.

Still getting flour everywhere.

Welcome to Chrissi’s Farmhouse Bakery.

From my farmhouse in Gardnerville to your table.

Chrissi
Owner • Baker • Recipe Developer • Queen of Wheat